Improvement in cultivators



W. S. RIGGS.

Cultvatof.

Patented Mar. 19, 1861.

Witneses.

ESS.)

. UNITED lSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. RIGGS, OF HIGHTSTOWN, NEV JERSEY.

IMPRQVEM ENT IN CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 31,742, dated March 19,1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. BIGGs, of Hightstown New Jersey,haveinvented certain new useful and Improvements in Cultivators; and I dohereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and eXact descriptionthereof, and of its construction andniode or manner of operation,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, making a part of this specification. y YFigure lis a general View of a cultivator having my improvements. Figs.2 and 3 illustrate different methods of attaching the sharestandard tothe frame.

The general nature of my improvements consist in so constructing thecultivator, according to the arrangement hereinafter described, that theinclination of some of the shares to the row or drill of the plants canbe changed, so that the shares will pass through the soil without makingany furrow, or can be made to throw a furrow, as desired.

Fig. l shows a eultivator constructed generally as ordinary ones, havinga suitable framework, A, and with corresponding series or pairs B B ofstandards and shares a a, the number of which may be varied at pleasure.

In cultivators as generally constructed heretofore the plows have beenrmly fixed to the frame, and when used when the plants are young thereis much danger or liability of danger that the plants themselves wouldbe disturbed and injured by means of the closeness of the forward plowsto each other and their inclination to the row of plants. If, on theother hand, the plows are placed far enough apart to prevent suchliability of danger, the ground would not be suiiiciently stirred andloosened. This defect I remedy and prevent by so connecting the forwardplows, B B', to the frame that they can be moved sidewise, and theirinclination to the planted row changed, so that they will merely pass'through the ground, loosening it without throwing it into a furrow, orso that they will east up a furrow when desired. The effect or result ofthis arrangement is that the forward series or pair of plows can be madeto pass quite near the plants without disturbing them, but at the sametime loosening the soil, when the plants are young and l the cultivatortake adeeper furrow, the drawnot rmly rooted; but when the plants become strongly rooted the same plows can be so placed as-to throw afurrow toward the row of plants. Such change in position is obtained byfastening the standard to the frame, so that it can have sidewise motionon the fulcrum a, Fig. 2, and is held in any position by a screw passingthrough the slot b, the length of which slot governs the side motion orswing of the plow; or, more conveniently, a screw-bolt, e, (Fig. 3,) maypassup through the ends ofthe frame, through a slot, and is held andfixed in any position by the hand-nut d. By loosening this nut d theplow may be moved sidewise on the fulcrum a, and its consequentinclination to the planted roW varied. 4

In Fig. I, the heavy lines show the different series of plows havingtheir sharesI gener ally parallel with each other, and so Xed as tocause them to throw up a furrow as they move. The dotted lines in samefigure represent the forward plows, B B', so turned as to have lessinclination toward the planted row, so that they will pass through thesoil without throwing it in a furrow and merely loosening it. l

rlhe shares, or, what may be termed the mold-boards, c a, are cast ormade so that their opposite sides I 2 are alike, and they have the sameangle with the upright sides 3 4. When, therefore, the side l is so muchworn as to impair or lessen the efficient operation of the cultivator,the pieces a c may b'e changed, so as to bring the edge or surface 2into use. made, the shares a a are fastened to the standards B B byscrew-bolts, or in any equivalent manner. The shares a a have thus twocutting or operating surfaces, and they thus last much longer.

'Io the front part of the frame is attached the draw-bar O, which hasmotion on its point of attachment f. From the frame also extend uprightbars g g, which have also motion on their points of attachment orconnection, and having a number of holes in them,

as represented in the drawings, so that the bar C can be fixed indifferent positions or at different heights.

When, for any reason, it is desired to have To enable this change easilyto be" bar C is to be elevated; and when, on the A, the Wholeoperatingas and forthe purposes other hand, the furrow is to be shallower, theset forth and described.

bar C should be lowered. v

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to NVM' S RIGGS secure byLetters Patent, s- Vtnesses:

The arrangement, substantially as set forth, GEORGE B. RIGGS,

of the standards B B and shares a a, and frame EZEKIEL G. CHAMBERLIN.

